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THE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION C 3^ '' 

Thb Lecturb-Study Department jLiiS A^ 



No. 165.— Price, 10 Cents. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS 
IN AMERICAN HISTORY 



SYLLABUS OF A 
COURSE OF SIX 
LECTURE-STUDIES 



By WILLIAM CRAIG WILCOX, A.M., 
PROFESSORIAL LECTURER IN HISTORY 



CHICAGO 

Cbe 'Qlni«e(sttc ot abicaao txeee 

1902 






WLl^ 



EXERCISES 



Topics for exercises are given at the end of the outline of each lecture. Answers 
in writing, to not more than two questions each week, are invited from all persons 
attending the lecture. These should be written on one side of the paper only, a 
broad margin being reserved on the left. The name in the center, with some 
signature of the writer, should stand at the top of the first page. The exercises 
should be sent to William Craig Wilcox, M.D., The University of Chicago, Chicago, 
so as to arrive at least two days before the following lecture. They will be re- 
turned at the Review, the following week, with such marginal and oral comments as 
they seem to require. If application is made to the lecturer, there will be an Exam- 
ination at the end of the course for students who are qualified and desire to take it. 

Any of the books referred to in these lectures may be obtained at special rates 
from The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 111. Prices will be quoted on 
application. 

UNIVERSITY CREDIT FOR LECTURE-STUDY COURSES 

Readings in connection with each lecture are designated in the syllabus. The 
syllabus is provided with a perforated leaf upon which each student doing the full 
amount of assigned reading, or in addition to the reading, rendering to the lecturer 
the full number of written papers, is invited to record that fact. This leaf may be 
sent by the student to the lecturer who will certify to it by his signature, and will 
add such comments as he thinks appropriate. The leaf will then be returned by 
the lecturer to the student. 

Applicants for University standing in any department must satisfactorily con- 
form to the requirements laid down by the University in reference to entrance 
examinations. 

Passing satisfactorily an examination upon a course of twelve lecture-studies 
entitles a student, under the conditions of the foregoing paragraph, to the privilege 
of presenting himself at the University for the University examination upon that 
subject, if application be made within twelve months of the termination of the 
course. The terms of examination for University Credit upon University Extension 
lecture-studies are as follows : 

Any student who has attended a twelve-lecture-study course, satisfied the lec- 
turer in the amount of assigned reading, rendered the required number of written 
papers, and satisfactorily passed the examination set by the lecturer may, upon 
presenting the weekly and examination papers to the University Examiner, paying 
the usual examination and matriculation fees, and passing a satisfactory examina- 
tion at the University, receive credit in the University for a Minor in the subject 
upon which the course has been given. This credit will depend upon the character 
of the paper work as well as upon that of the examination. 

Non-resident students may not offer for the Bachelor's degree more than one- 
half of the work required for that degree. They may not offer for the degrees of 
B.D. or Ph.D. more than one-third of the work required for those degrees. In 
every case examination upon the work must be passed at the University, or at one 
of the regular examinations conducted by the University. 

In the case of advanced subjects, the examinations for entrance to the Univer- 
sity shall have been passed, and also such examinations in preliminary subjects as 
may be required for the subject offered. Students presenting themselves for these 
examinations must attain the grades required in all the regular examinations of 
the University. qj^ 

The University 



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^ ASSIGNED READINGS. 

I. THE seven-years' WAR. 



^" 



Sloane, The French War and the Revolution. 

II. THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 

FiSKE, The American Revolution, 2 vols. 

III. THE STRUGGLE FOR UNION. 

FiSKE, The Critical Period in Ainericati History. 

IV. THE CRISIS IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 

Lodge, George Washington, 2 vols. 

V. the MAINTENANCE O^ NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE. 

Hart, Formation of the Union, chap. 10. 
Walker, Making of the Nation, chaps. 1 1-13- 

VI. THE CIvLSIS IN THE INEVITABLE CONFLICT. 

Wilson. "bion and Reunion. 



TOPICS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION. 

I. THE seven-years' WAR. 

1. The influence of the Seven- Years' War upon the Revolution. 

2. The English colonies in America outside of the original thirteen. 

. THE struggle FOR INDEPENDENCE. 

1. The change in England's colonial policy since 1776. 

2. The possibility of peaceable separation in 1776. 

III. THE struggle FOR UNION. 

1. The weaknesses of the Confederation. 

2. The characteristics of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. 

IV. THE CRISIS IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 

1. The advantages and disadvantages of President Washington not 
experienced by his successors. 

2. What has been the most critical point in American History ? 

V. THE MAINTENANCE OF NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE. 

1. The real reasons for the change in our international status after the 
War of 1812. 

2. Was the War of 18 12 a success or a failure for the Americans ? 

VI. THE CRISIS IN THE INEVITABLE CONFLICT. 

1. The comparison and contrast between Washington and Lincoln. 

2. Could the Civil War have been avoided ? 



LECTURE I. 

THE seven-years' WAR, 1 756-63. 

I. Six Critical Points in American History. 

1. The crisis in the struggle for race supremacy, 1756-63. 

2. The crisis in the struggle for independence, 1775-83. 

3. The crisis in the struggle for union, 1787-89. 

4. The crisis in the new government, 1789-97. 

5. The crisis in the struggle to shake off foreign domination, 
the War of 181 2-1 4. 

6. The crisis in the development of the Constitution, the 
question of majority rule answered in the rise and fall of 
the slave power. 

II. The Essential Nature of a Critical Period in History. 

1. It must involve a choice between good and evil. 

2. The opposing forces must be sufficiently equal to consti- 
tute a crisis. 

3. The issues involved must be of fundamental importance. 

4. The results attained must be permanent. 

III. The Importance of the Seven-Years' War in America. 

1. The culmination of a series of colonial struggles between 
France and England. 

{a) The War of the League of Augsburg, 1686-97, ending 

in the Treaty of Ryswick. 
{b) The War of the Spanish Succession, 1 701-13, ending 

in the Treaty of Utrecht. 
{c) The War of the Austrian Succession, 1741-48, ending 

in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
{d) The Seven-Years' War, 1756-63, ending in the Treaty 

of Paris. 

2. The last serious struggle between the English colonists 
and the Indians. 

3. The termination of the various race struggles for the pos- 
session of the western world. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 5 

IV. The Initial Advantages Possessed by the Spaniards. 

1. The relative power of the Spanish government in Europe 
during the period of American exploration and discovery, 

2. Their comparatively early start and the wide area of their 
claims. 

3. The support of the Roman papacy. 

V. Reasons why the Spaniards Failed to Lead. 

1. Intermarriage with the Indians degraded the Spaniards. 

2. Cruel treatment of the natives made them inveterate foes 
to Spanish advance. 

3. The Spaniards seized the wrong coast. 

4. Extreme religious exclusiveness deprived the Spaniards of 
the inspiration of missionary enthusiasm. 

5. Spain conquered easily from a weak and unv/arlike people, 
but failed to develop the colonial strength which is born 
of resistance. 

6. Spain gained large immediate wealth from her conquests 
but failed to provide for future colonial success. 

7. The Spaniards have always possessed very slight colonial 
capacity. 

8. The Spanish government in Europe began its progressive 
collapse with the opening of the seventeenth century. 

VI. Points in Which the French Had the Advantage of the Spaniards. 

1. France was in the ascendant in Europe while the Spanish 
government declined. 

2. Intermarriage with the natives did not have a degrading 
effect upon the French. 

3. The French conciliated the Indians and attempted to 
Christianize them. 

4. The French colonies received much more aid from the 
home government. 

5. The French are by nature possessed of a high degree of 
adaptability. 

VII. Advantages of the English over Both the French and Spaniards. 

1. The English colonies were fundamentally agricultural. 

2. The English allowed their colonies almost complete local 
self-government. 



6 SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

3. The English system of land tenure was superior to that of 
the French and Spanish. 

4. The English did not intermarry with the natives. 

5. The geographical position of the English gave them an 
an enormous advantage over their rivals. 

6. Among the English there was comparative freedom in 
religion. 

7. England broke away from the papacy in peace while 
France experienced a generation of paralyzing civil wars, 
1560-98. 

8. English superiority in seamanship counted for much. 

9. The English had an hereditary capacity for colonization 
and the rare ability to learn from experience not to repeat 
mistakes. 

10. England in Europe grew strong after France and Spain 
began to decline. 

VIII. The Results of the Seven-Years' War in America. 

1. The victory of Protestant Christianity over Roman Cathol- 
icism. 

2. The triumph of the common over the civil law. 

3. The supremacy of the English language as the common 
speech of North America. 

4. The preparation of the English colonists for the great 
struggle for independence twenty years later. 

5. The termination of the two centuries of struggle in 
America between the conflicting civilizations of Roman 
and Teutonic Europe. 

EXERCISES. 

1. The part performed by the Indians in the Seven- Years' War. 

2. The reasons for the constant friendship between the French 
and the Indians. 

3. The advantages of the English over the French in the war. 

REFERENCES. 

I. WORKS COVERING THE COLONIAL PERIOD IN GENERAL. 

Fisher, The Colonial Era. Scribner. 
Thwaites, The Colonies. Longmans. 
Bancroft, History of the United States. Vols. I and II. Appleton. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 7 

Doyle, English Colonies in Ainerica. 3 vols. Holt. 

Lodge, Short History of the English Colonies in America. Harper. 

Fisher, iMen, Women, and Manners in Colonial Times. 2 vols. Lippincott. 

Grahame, Colonial History of the United States. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1856. 

Scribner's History of the United States. Vols. I, II, and III. Scribner. 

Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America. Vols. I-V. Houghton. 

Campbell, The Puritan in England, Holland, and America. 2 vols. Harper. 

Palfrey, History of New England. 5 vols. Little, Brown & Co. 

Ellis, The Puritan Age in Massachusetts. Houghton. 

Fiske, The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America. 2 vols. Houghton. 

Weeden, Economic and Social Histojy of New England. 2 vols. Houghton. 

II. WORKS COVERING THE PERIOD OF THE SEVEN-YEARS' WAR, I756-63. 

Sloane, The French War and the Revolution, chaps, i-io. Scribner, 

Hart, The Formation of the Union, chaps, i and 2. Longmans. 

Bancroft, History of the United States. Vol. II, last twelve chapters. Appleton. 

Scribner' s History of the United States, Vol. Ill, chaps. 10-12. Scribner. 

Parkman, Montcaltn and Wolfe. 2 vols. Little, Brown & Co. 

Parkman, Frontenac and New France. Little, Brown & Co. 

Parkman, A Half Century of Conflict. 2 vols. Little, Brown & Co. 

Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac. 2 vols. Little, Brown & Co. 

Lodge, Life of George Washington. 2 vols. Houghton. 



LECTURE II. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE, 1 7 75-83. 

The Influence of the Seven Years' War upon the Revolution. 

1. The colonists had been united for seven years in a common 
struggle against a common foe. 

2. The colonists learned to put a proper estimate upon their 
own military strength. 

3. The incapacity of the English soldiers for the American 
style of warfare was made manifest. 

4. The colonists objected to fighting England's wars and 
paying for them also. 

5. The danger from the French and Indians was removed and 
England came to be regarded as a foe. 

6. Canada offered a base of operations to the English army 
and a refuge to colonial loyalists. 



5 SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

11. The Primary Causes of the American Revolution. 

1. The great distance between England and the colonies. 

2. The antagonism of the colonies to the established church 
of England. 

3. The defective system of representation in parliament. 

4. The inevitable conflict in industrial interests between 
England and the colonies. 

5. The comparative social democrac}^ in colonial life. 

6. The rapid increase in colonial wealth and numbers. 
III. The Secondary Causes of the American Revolution. 

1. The numerous and increasing restrictions upon the action 
of the colonial legislatures. 

2. The violations of constitutional rights charged by the 
colonists against the mother-country. 

3. The long series of laws in restraint of colonial navigation 
and manufactures. 

4. The legislative and military skirmishes from the Stamp 
Act (1765) to the battle of Lexington (1775). 

IV. Some Significant Features of the Revolutionary Period. 

1. The predecessors and successors of Lord North in the 
British ministry. 

2. The number and extent of the English colonies in America 
outside of the thirteen. 

3. The reasons why Canada did not unite with the thirteen 
colonies in the struggle for independence. 

4. The contrast between the theoretical and the real reasons 
for the war. 

5. The number and strength of the loyalists at the beginning 
of the struggle. 

6. The advantages and disadvantages of the North as com- 
pared with the South in the war. 

7. The reasons for the economic prosperity of the colonists 
during the war. 

V. The Great Political Documents of the Period. 

1. The revolutionary state constitutions. 

2. The Declaration of Independence. 

3. The Articles of Confederation. 

4. Washington's circular letter to the governors of the states, 
dated Newburgh, N. Y., June 8, 1783. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 9 

VI. Reasons for the Defeat of England. 

1. The geographical features of the Atlantic seaboard favored 
the Americans. 

2. The superiority in leadership lay with the colonial army. 

3. The Americans were fighting at home, near their base of 
supplies, and could use their own methods of warfare. 

4. The colonists were not affected by fluctuations in the value 
of their currency. 

5. The English ministry at home made several serious 
blunders, and the English officers in America did still 
worse. 

6. England had no allies while the colonists were supported 
by France, Spain, and Holland. 

7. The anti-war party in England was large and influential. 
VII. The Final Treaty of Peace with England, September 3, 1783. 

1. The obstacles which stood in the way of the treaty. 

2. The stipulations which were finally agreed upon. 

3. The infractions of the treaty on both sides. 

4. The general significance of the Treaty of Paris in the 
political history of Europe. 

EXERCISES. 

1. The superiority of the American officers to the British in the 
Revolutionary War. 

2. Were the English or the Americans more to blame for the war ? 

3. Why did the Americans not gain the full benefit of their 
victory ? 

REFERENCES. 

I. GENERAL WORKS ON THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

Woodburn, Lecky's American Revolution, Appleton. 

Frothingham, The Rise of the Republic. Little, Brown & Co. 

Fiske, The American Revolution. 2 vols, Houghton. 

Pitkin, History of the United States. 2 vols. New Haven, 1828. 

Y{.2^xv\to'i\, Republic of the United States. 6 vols. Appleton. 

Bancroft. History of the United States, Vols. Ill, IV, and V. Appleton. 

Greene, Historical Vieiv of the Anerican Revolution. Houghton. 

Trevelyan, The American Revolution. 2 vols. Longmans. 

Greene, The German Element in the War of Independence. Houghton. 

Yi'iggmson, Larger History of the United States. Harper. 

Jones, New York in the Revolutionary War. 2 vols. Appleton. 



lO SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

II. BIOGRAPHICAL WORKS ON THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

Sparks, Life and Treason of Arnold. Harper. 

Moore, Diary of the American Revolutioti. Lloyd. 

Arnold, Life of Benedict Arnold. McCIurg. 

Hale, Franklin in Paris. 2 vols. Roberts Bros. 

Marshall, Life of Washington. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1832. 

Bigelow, Life of Franklin. 3 vols. Lippincott. 

Field, Esek Hopkins. Preston & Rounds Co. 

Field, Diary of Col. Lsrael Angell. Preston & Rounds Co. 

Parton, Life of Aaron Burr. 2 vols. Houghton. 

Parton, Life of Benjamin Franklin. 2 vols. Houghton. 

Fonblanque, Life of Biirgoyne. Macmillan. 

Lossing, Life of Schuyler. 2 vols. Sheldon. 

Sparks, Life of Washington. Little, Brown & Co. 

Hosmer, Samual Adams. Houghton, 

Morse, Benjamin Franklin. Houghton. 

Tyler, Patrick Henry. Houghton. 

Lodge, Washington. 2 vols. Houghton. 

Sumner, The Financier and the Fina?tces of the Revolution. 2 vols. Dodd. 



LECTURE III. 

THE STRUGGLE FOR UNION. 

I. Reasons for the Weakness of the Articles of Confederation. 

1. They were gradually developed during the war from July 
21, 1775, to March i, 1781. 

2. The condition of political life at the close of the war was 
necessarily chaotic. 

3. A large number of false notions were conspicuously prev- 
alent in the public mind at this period. 

4. The Articles of Confederation were defective in structure 
and there was a general unwillingness to make them any 
better. 

IL The Fatal Defects in the Articles of Confederation. 

1. The central government had only one department. 

2. The legislature was unicameral and had very limited 
powers. 

3. Commerce and currency were in the control of the sepa- 
rate states. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY II 

4. The treaty-making power was unaccompanied by any 
treaty-enforcing power. 

5. The congress had no authority over individual citizens 
and could not assert its authority over the states. 

6. The Articles could be amended only by a unanimous vote 
of the thirteen states. 

III. The Results of the Weakness of the Confederation. 

1. Fourteen kinds of depreciated currency, accompanied by 
a progressive commercial collapse. 

2. Absolute confusion in our diplomatic relations with 
Europe. 

3. The neglect of the western lands until July 13, 1787. 

4. A tendency toward territorial disintegration, illustrated by 
the formation of the state of Franklin in 1784. 

5. The development of an acute attack of monetary mania, 
illustrated by the currency troubles in Rhode Island in 
17S6. 

6. The encouragement of popular violence, illustrated by 
Shays's rebellion in Massachusetts in 1786. 

IV. The Steps Which Led up to the Convention of 1787. 

1. The demands for a stronger union made by state legis- 
latures. 

2. The complaints of northern merchants and southern 
planters. 

3. The meeting at Alexandria, Va., in March, 1785. 

4. The Trade Convention at Annapolis, Md., in September, 
1786. 

5. The call by Congress, February 21, 1787, for a conven- 
tion to revise the Articles of Confederation. 

V. The Personnel of the Constitutional Convention of 1787. 

1. There were fifty-five delegates who sat, and ten who did 
not sit. 

2. There were thirty-nine delegates who signed the Consti- 
tution and sixteen who did not sign. 

■z. There were six northern states and six southern states. 



12 SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

4. The nativity, age and education of the delegates were un- 
usually auspicious. 

5. The majority of the delegates were men of influence in 
their own states. 

6. Many prominent men of the time were conspicuously 
absent from the convention. 

VI. The Adverse Influences Opposing the Convention. 

1. The fact that the convention had been called to revise, 
not to destroy, the Articles of Confederation. 

2. The existence of sectional and factional groups among 
the delegates. 

3. The serious divergences among the four plans presented. 

4. The constant necessity of compromise and omission. 

5. The difficulty in forming a constitution which the people 
would adopt and which, at the same time, would meet the 
public need. 

VII. The Reasons for the Success of the Convention and of its Work. 

1. The influence of the English constitution was sifted 
through the colonial and revolutionary governments. 

2. Most of the delegates had had a long and varied training 
in public life. 

3. The convention had a thorough organization and a very 
orderly and effective procedure. 

4. No time was wasted in discussing abstract theories. 

VIII. The 'Ratifying Conventions in the Thirteen States. 

1. The Constitution had to run the gauntlet of the Congress 
of the Confederation and of the conventions in the states. 

2. The size of the conventions, the length of the sessions, the 
time of ratification and the final vote on the Constitution 
varied greatly in the different states. 

3. The final crisis was met in the ratifying convention at 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., June and July, 178S. 

EXERCISES. 

1. The prominent men in the Convention of 1787. 

2. The economic causes of the Convention of 1787. 

3. The contrasts between American and European conventions. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY I3 

REFERENCES. 

I. GENERAL WORKS WHICH COVER THE PERIOD OF THE CONFEDERATION. 

McMaster, History of the People of the United States, Vol. I. Appleton, 

Von Hoist, Const. Hist, of the U. S., Vol. I, chaps, i and 2. Callaghan. 

Schouler, History of the United States, Vol. I, chap. I. Dodd. 

Hart, Formation of the Union, chaps. 5 and 6. Longmans. 

Walker, The Making of the Nation, chaps. 1-4. Scribner. 

Channing, The United States of America, chap. 4. Macmillan. 

Curtis, Constitutional History of the U. S., Vol. I. Harper. 

Pitkin, Political and Civil History of the U. S. 2 vols. New Haven, 1828. 

Hildreth, History of the United States, Vol. HI. Harper. 

Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, Vol. VH. Houghton. 

Hamilton, History of the Republic, Vols. II and HI. Appleton. 

Rives, Life and Times of James Madison, Vol. II. Little, Brown & Co. 

Bancroft, History of the United States, Vol. VI. Appleton. 

IL SPECIAL WORKS ON THE CONFEDERATION AND THE CONSTITUTION. 

Fiske, The Critical Period of American History. Houghton. 

Meigs, The Growth of the Constittition. Lippincott. 

Borgeaud, Adoption and Amendment of Constitutions. Macmillan. 

Bo-wcxoii, History of the Constitution . 2 vols. Appleton. 

Tyler, Life of Patrick Henry. Houghton. 

Fisher, The Evolution of the Constitution. Lippincott. 

Tiedemann, The Unwritten Constitution. Putnam. 

Cohn, An Introduction to the Constittction. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. 



LECTURE IV. 

THE CRISIS IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 

The Various Elements Which Constituted the Crisis. 

1. The situation in 1789 was experimental in the federal 
idea, in the combination of republican government with 
vast extent of territory, in the broad basis of suffrage, in 
the adoption of a permanent written constitution, and in 
the entire absence of a governing class. 

2. The Revolutionary War and the Articles of Confederation 
had bequeathed an evil legacy in national bankruptcy, 
interstate hostility, chaotic currency, and a tendency 
toward popular violence. 



14 SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

3. The additional difficulties which Washington had to face 
in 1789 were the hostility of all Western Europe except 
France, powerful and hostile neighbors with ill-defined 
boundaries on the north, west and south, the occupation 
of the U. S. territory by British troops, the refusal of two 
states to come into the Union, the hostile remnant of the 
old Tory party, our actual dependence upon Europe and 
the presence of a dominant foreign influence. 

4. After 1789 Washington was confronted by the French 
sympathizers, the anti-English opponents of Jay's treaty, 
the danger of war with France, the party of inflationists 
and repudiationists aroused by Hamilton's financial 
reforms, the dissensions in the cabinet and the numer- 
ous vexed questions of international law. 

II. The Sources of Washington's Success in Establishing and Main- 
taining the New Government. 

1. The assistance of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. 

2. The severe lesson taught by the miseries of the Confedera- 
tion. 

3. The fact that Washington was unhindered by the dangers 
bred in large cities, great extremes in individual wealth, 
huge corporate monopolies, undesirable foreign immigra- 
tion, the mutual hostilities of organized labor and organ- 
ized capital, and the spoils theory of government. 

4. Washington's rare combination of complete unselfishness, 
excellent judgment, unswerving integrity, intense earnest- 
ness and extreme self-control. 

III. The Practical Work of Washington's Administration. 

1. In legislation: (a) the constructive work of Congress in 
putting the new government on its feet, and (/^) the five 
great financial measures of Alexander Hamilton. 

2. In executive work : (<^) the Proclamation of Neutrality, 
April 22, 1793; (/^) the suppression of the Whiskey Insur- 
rection in Western Pennsylvania in the fall of 1794, and 
(c) Jay's treaty with England, negotiated November 19, 
1794. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 1 5 

3. In judicial work, the fourteen sessions of the Supreme 
Court, in five of which no cases were heard, and with less 
than thirty-five cases in all, only four of which were 
important. 

4. In political management, the gradual formation of the 
great bi-party system by which this country has been gov- 
erned from 1789 to the present. 

IV. The Reasons for the Overthrow of the Federalist Party. 

1. The fact that John Adams was unable to fill George Wash- 
ington's shoes. 

2. The death of Washington and the dissensions among his 
followers. 

3. The fact that Thomas Jefferson, the arch-enemy of the 
Federalist party, was Washington's cabinet leader and 
Adams's vice-president. 

4. The serious mistakes of John Adams's foreign and domes- 
tic policy. 

V. The Results of Twelve Years of Federalist Administration in 

the United States. 

1. The beginning of the development of the Unwritten Con- 
stitution of the United States. 

2. The liberal and enlightened interpretation of the Consti- 
tution, and the appointment of John Marshall to the 
Supreme Court. 

3. The popular realization that Congress could and would be 
obeyed, that an executive can be strong without being 
despotic, and that the army and navy need not be feared. 

4. The economic benefits of strong government at home and 
the great improvement in our relations with Europe. 

5. The exhibition of a high ideal of personal character in 
our public life. 

EXERCISES. 

1. Make a comparative study of Hamilton and Jefferson. 

2. The precedents set by President Washington. 

3. Make a study of Hamilton's system of finance. 



l6 SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

REFERENCES. 

I. GENERAL WORKS COVERING THE PERIOD 1789-180I. 

McMaster, History of the People of the U. S., Vols. I and II. Appleton. 

Schouler, History of the United States, Vol. I. Dodd. 

Von Hoist, Constitutional History of the U. S., Vol. I. Callaghan. 

Hart, Formation of the Union, chaps. 7 and 8. Longmans. 

Walker, Making of the Nation, chaps. 5-8. Scribner. 

Stanwood, History of the Presidency, chaps. 1-4. Houghton. 

Channing, The United States of America, chap. 5. Macmillan. 

Channing, Students'' History of the U. S., chap. 7. Macmillan. 

Hildreth, History of the United States, Vols. IV and V. Harper. 

Scribner' s History of the United States, Vol, IV, chaps. 5 and 6. Scribner. 

Pitkin, Political and Civil History, Yo\. II, chaps. 20-25. New Haven, 1828. 

Hamilton, History of the Republic, Vols. IV-VI. Appleton. 

11. BIOGRAPHIES OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Lodge, George Washington. 2 vols. Houghton. 

Sparks, Life of Washington. Little, Brown & Co. 

Scudder, George Washington. Houghton. 

yLZ.x%\i-3X\, The Life of Washington, 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1832. 

Ford, The True George Washington. Lippincott. 

Irving, Life of Washington, many editions of Irving's works. 

Lossing, Washington and the Atnerican Republic. 3 vols. Barrie. 

Yoxdi, Writings of Washington. 14 vols. Putnam. 

III. OTHER BIOGRAPHIES COVERING THE PERIOD I789-180I. 

Morse, Life of Alexander Hamilton. 2 vols. Little, Brown & Co. 

Lodge, Alexander Ha?nilton. Houghton. 

Sumner, Alexander Hat7iilton. Dodd. 

yioxst,Johfi Adams. Houghton. 

A6.^.ms, Life of fohn Adajns. 2 vols. Lippincott. 

Randall, Life of fefferson. 3 vols. Lippincott. 

Parton, Life of Thomas fefferson. Houghton. 

Morse, Thomas fefferson. Houghton. 

Ford, Works of fefferson. 10 vols. Putnam. 

Washington, Works of fefferson. 9 vols. Lippincott. 

Adams, Life of James Madison. Boston, 1 854. 

Gay, James Madison. Houghton. 

Ve\\&v/, John Jay. Houghton. 

Hamilton, Writings oj Alexander Hamilton. 7 vols. Lippincott. 

Lodge, Works of ILamilton. 9 vols. Putnam. 

Adams, Works of fohn Adams. 10 vols. Little, Brown & Co. 

]o\in?,ion. Writings of John Jay. 4 vols. Putnam. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 



LECTURE V. 

THE STRUGGLE FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF NATIONAL 
INDEPENDENCE. 

I. The Four Periods in the Dispute between England and the 
United States. 

1. From the Treaty of Paris in 1783 to Jay's Treaty with 
England in 1795, a period of violated agreements and 
chaotic relations. 

2. From 1795 to 1806, the humiliations imposed by Jay's 
Treaty. 

3. From 1806 to 18 12, the period of Jefferson's embargo 
fiasco and the inevitable drifting into war. 

4. From 18 1 2 to 1815, the second struggle for independence. 

II. The Mooted Points in International Law. 

1. Does a neutral flag on a neutral ship protect an enemy's 
property ? 

2. Is a port blockaded without the presence of an actual 
blockading force? 

3. Is a merchantman, convoyed by a man-of-war, exempt 
from search ? 

4. What is " contraband of war" ? 

5. The right of expatriation. 

6. The neutrality of the ocean. 

7. The British ''Rule of 1756." 

III. The Causes of the War of 1812. 

1. The various disputed points in international law together 
with the inevitable commercial rivalry between England 
and the United States. 

2. The necessity of throwing off the dominant foreign influ- 
ence in our political life. 

3. The need of a vigorous display before all Europe of our 
willingness and ability to defend ourselves by physical 
force. 

4. The breakdown of the embargo and the exhaustion of 
diplomacy. 



8 SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

5. The British policy of searching American vessels and 
impressing American seamen. 

IV. The Advantages of the United States in the Second War with 
England as compared with the First War. 

1. The marked increase in population, area, and wealth. 

2. A definite political union among the states. 

3. A regular and stable economic life. 

4. Unlike the Revolution of 1776, the war of 1812 did not 
start as a rebellion. 

V. The Disadvantages of the United States in the War of 1812. 

1. Madison was not a good war president, and his cabinet 
was very poorly constituted. 

2. The New England peace party stepped to the verge of 
treason in their opposition to the war. 

3. The United States Bank had expired in 181 1, and the 
country was suffering from financial disorganization. 

4. Jefferson had abolished the internal revenue, and the war 
cut off the income from the tariff. 

5. Our army and navy were mere military expressions. 

VI. The Advantages and Disadvantages of England in the War. 

1. England had the advantage in army, navy, bank, military 
experience, population, and wealth. 

2. England, on the other hand, was suffering from the sus- 
pension of specie payments, an enormous debt, disorgan- 
ized manufactures and commerce, twenty years of exhaust- 
ing warfare, and the hostile military genius of Napoleon 
Bonaparte. 

VII. The Surprising Features of the War of 1812. 

1. Our naval successes against apparently overwhelming odds. 

2. The desultory and ineffective character of our warfare on 
land. 

3. The fact that England made peace just as she was left free 
to crush us. 

4. No mention in the Treaty of Ghent of the ostensible 
objects of the war. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY I9 

5. The large number of beneficent results experienced by the 
United States, out of all proportion to the character of the 
effort or the extent of the victory. 
VIII. The Results of the War of 1812. 

1. The internal effects of the war in the United States were 
numerous and, for the most part, fortunate. 

2. Decidedly beneficial results were experienced in our rela- 
tions with Europe and the Barbary states. 

3. The Hartford Convention marked the end of New England 
secessionism and of the Federalist party. 

IX. The Critical Character of the War of 1812. 

1. If we had been defeated by England the results would 
probably have been evil for both parties. 

2. England could have defeated us had she been willing to 
make the effort. 

3. For two years the entire future of the western hemisphere 
hung in the balance. 

4. The results of the war have been permanent. 

EXERCISES. 

1. Contrast the war of 1812 and the American Revolution. 

2. Explain our comparative success on the water and our compara- 
tive failure on land. 

3. To what extent was James Madison responsible for the war ? 

REFERENCES. 

I. GENERAL WORKS WHICH INCLUDE THE WAR OF l8l2. 

YVAAx^Wi, History of the United States, Vol. VI. Harper. 
Mc Master, History of the People of the U. S., Vol. IV. Appleton. 
Scribner's History of the United States, VoL IV, chaps. 8 and 9. Scribner. 
Schouler, History of the United States, VoL II, chaps. 8 and 9, Dodd. 
Tucker, History of the United States, Vols. II and III. Lippincott. 
Hart, Formation of the Union, chap. 10. Longmans. 
Channing, llie United States of A/nerica,c\).a.^ 7. Macmillan. 
Walker, Making of the Nation, chaps. 11-13. Scribner. 
Adams, History of the United States, /801-18/7, Vols. VI-IX. Scribner. 
Channing, Students' History of the U. S., chaps. 8 and 9. Macmillan. 
Bolles, Financial History of the U. S., /y8g-/86o. Book II. Appleton. 
Stanwood, History of the Presidency, chaps. 7-9. Houghton. 
Kearney, Study of American Pittances, chap. 3. Putnam. 



20 SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

11. SPECIAL WORKS ON THE WAR OF l8l2. 

Lossing, Pictorial Field- Book of the War of 1812. Harper. 

Cooper, History of the Navy of the U. S. Lea & Blanchard. 1847. 

Roosevelt, Naval War of 18/2. Putnam. 

Spears, The History of Our Navy. 4 Vols. Scribner. 

Maclay, History of the Navy. 2 Vols. Appleton. 

Maclay, History of Americaji Privateers. Appleton. 

Lyman, Diplomacy of the U. S., Vol. II, chaps, i and 2. Boston. 1828. 

Q,oggQ'&\i2}\, History of the American Privateers. New York. 1 856. 

Lossing, The Etnpire State, chaps 27-31. Funk & Wagnalls. 

}2imQS, N'aval History of Great Britain. Vol. VI. London. Bentley. 

Isham, The Fishery Question. Putnam. 

Dwight, History of the Hartford Convention. New York and Boston. 1833. 

III. BIOGRAPHIES WHICH TREAT OF THE WAR OF l8l2. 

Rives, Life and Ti?nes of James Madison. Vol. III. Little, Brown & Co. 

Schurz, Henry Clay. Vol. I, chaps. 5 and 6. Houghton. 

Gay, James Madison. Houghton. 

Randall, Life of Jefferson, Vol. Ill, chaps. 9 and 10. Lippincott. 

Stevens, Albert Gallatin. Houghton. 

yiov&e, John Quincy Adams, pp. 68-1 oi. Houghton. 

Sumner, Andrew Jackson, chap 2. Houghton. 

Gilman, James Monroe, chsip. 5. Houghton. 



LECTURE VI. 

THE CRISIS IN THE INEVITABLE CONFLICT. 

The History of American Slavery. 

1. The earlier period extends from 1620 to 1792, the later 
period from 1792 to i860. 

2. Slavery in America has been discussed from four general 
points of view ; political philosophy, constitutional law, 
moral right and expediency. 

3. A sharp line has always been drawn in our history between 
slavery and the slave trade. 

4. American slavery differed fundamentally and in many ways 
from the slavery of the ancient and mediaeval world. 

5. The slavery question has entered into nearly every phase 
of our national development. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 2 1 

II. The Reasons for the Inevitableness of the Conflict. 

1. The Constitution could be interpreted either to maintain or 
to deny the sovereignty of the states. 

2. The struggle of agriculture against commerce and man- 
ufactures. 

3. The sectional character of the institution of slavery. 

4. The industrial, intellectual, and numerical superiority of 
the North. 

5. There is always a limit beyond which compromise cannot 
go- 

III. The Causes of the Rapid Growth of Slavery after 1792. 

1. The numerous mechanical inventions in spinning and 
weaving in England at the close of the eighteenth century. 

2. The invention of the cotton-gin by Eli Whitney in 1792. 

3. The possibility of rapid reproduction among the negroes. 

IV. The Effects upon the South of the Increase of Slavery. 

1. The political results are seen in the disproportionate power 
of the slaveholder both at home and in congress, and in the 
desire of the slave power to reach out after new territory. 

2. The economic results are seen in the greater number, 
higher price, and shorter lives of the slaves; in the exten- 
sion of slave-breeding to the border states ; in the cotton 
alliance between England and the South ; in the exhausted 
soil and the lack of variety and improvement in produc- 
tion ; in the inferiority in mechanics and the absence of 
manufactures. 

3. The moral results were the degradation of labor, the im- 
morality of plantation life, the stratification of society, the 
misery of -the "poor whites," and the creation of an idle 
class. 

V. The Reasons for the Early Success of the Slavery Party. 

1. It was united while its opponents were divided. 

2. It had the prestige of upholding an established institution. 

3. Being a minority group it took the inititiative and the 
offensive. 

4. It used the political shibboleth of local self-government. 



22 SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

5. It defended itself upon the early theory of the constitution. 

6. Large and immediate economic interests were at stake. 

VI. The General Program of the Pro-Slavery Men. 

1. The maintenance of a pro-slavery majority in the Senate. 

2. The muzzling of the House of Representatives. 

3. The election of pro-slavery and states-rights presidents. 

4. The packing of the Supreme Court. 

5. Acquisition of more territory or withdrawal from the 
Union. 

VII. The Effects upon the North of the Increase of Slavery. 

1. Various plans for extirpating slavery were advocated. 

2. The anti- slavery men were gradually grouped into three 
general classes. 

VIII. The Pro-Slavery Plea in i860. 

1. That slavery had a prescriptive right to exist. 

2. That the negro was better off as a slave than when free. 

3. That the Constitution permitted slavery to exist. 

4. That the Bible sanctioned and even enjoined slavery. 

5. That emancipation would be dangerous to society. 

IX. Some of the Immediate Causes of the Struggle. 

1. The outrageous features of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. 

2. The appearance in March, 1852, of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 
Uncle Tom's Cabin. 

3. The Kansas-Nebraska contest of 1854. 

4. Chief-Justice Taney's Dred Scott decision in 1857. 

5. The attack of John Brown upon Harper's Ferry in 1859. 

6. The success of the Republican party in i860. 

X. Four Periods in the History of Reconstruction. 

1. 1865-70, the establishment of the policy of reconstruction. 

2. 1870-80, the disfranchisement of the negro by force. 

3. 1880-90, the disfranchisement of the negro by fraud. 

4. 1 890-1 900, the disfranchisement of the negro by legis- 
lation. 



SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 23 

EXERCISES. 

1. The reasons for the victory of the North over the South. 

2. The reasons for the friendly attitude of Russia toward the 

South. 

3. The explanation of the hostility of England and France towards 

the North. 

4. Explain the fallacy in Calhoun's political philosophy as ap- 
plied to the United States. 

REFERENCES. 

I. GENERAL WORKS WHICH INCLUDE THE CIVIL WAR. 

Rhodes, History of the United States from 1830. 5 vols. Harper. 

Schouler, History of the United States. Vol. VI. Dodd. 

Andrews, History of the United States. Vol. II. Period 4. Scribner. 

Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, 1861-1881. 2 vols. Henry Bill Pub. Co. 

Scribner' s History of the United States. Vols. IV and V. Scribner. 

Wilson, Division and Reunion. Longmans. 

Burgess, The Civil War and Reconstruction. Scribner. 

Von Hoist, Constitutional History of the U. S. 8 vols. Callaghan. 

II. SPECIAL WORKS ON THE CIVIL WAR. 

Draper, The Civil War in America. 3 vols. Harper. 

Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War. 4 vols. Coates. 

Harris, The Trent Affair. Bowen-Merrill Co. 

Brown, Baltimore and the igth of April, 1861. Johns Hopkins Press. 

Dodge, A Bird's-Eye View oj the Civil War. Houghton. 

Dana, Recollections of the Civil War. Appleton. 

Individual Authors, Campaigns of the Civil War. 13 vols. Scribner. 

III. BIOGRAPHIES CONNECTED WITH THE CIVIL WAR. 

Von Hoist, John C. Calhoun. Houghton. 

Lothrop, William H. Seward. Houghton. 

Parton, Life of Horace Greely. Houghton. 

Gorham, Edwin M. Stanton. 2 vols. Houghton. 

His children, William Lloyd Garrison. 4 vols. Houghton. 

Johnson, Garrison and the Anti-Slavery Movement. Houghton. 

Schuckers, Life of Salmon F. Chase. Appleton. 

Nicolay and Hay, Life of Abraham Lincoln. 10 vols. Century Co. 

Hapgood, Abraham Lincoln. Macmillan. 

Carpenter, The Inner Life of Lincoln. Houghton. 

Morse, Abraham Lincoln. 2 vols. Houghton. 



^4 SIX CRITICAL POINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

IV. WORKS ON NULLIFICATION, SECESSION, RECONSTRUCTION, AND SLAVERY. 

Powell, Nullification and Secession in the United States. Putnam. 

Stephens, Constitutional View of the Late War. 2 vols. Nat. Pub. Co. 

Davis, Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. 2 vols. Appleton. 

Houston, A Study of Nullification in South Carolina, Longmans. 

Loring, Nullification and Seccession. Putnam. 

Scott, ReconstJ-uction during the Civil War. Houghton. 

Dunning, The Civil War and Reconstruction. Macmillan. 

Curry, The Southern States of the American Union. Putnam. 

Wilson, Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America. 3 vols. Houghton. 

Siebert, The Underground Railroad. Macmillan. 

Granger, Washington versus Jefferson. Houghton. 



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